Energy: Competition

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 10 September 2012, Official Report, column 62W, on energy, what estimate his Department has made of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index for (a) the domestic electricity market and (b) the domestic gas market.

Michael Fallon: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	DECC publish estimates of Herfindahl-Hirschman Indices for the domestic electricity and gas markets in charts 7.4 and 7.8 respectively of UK Energy Sector Indicators, produced in October each year and available on the DECC website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-energy-sector-indicators-2012
	Latest data for 2011 show the index for electricity was 1,632 in 2011, with the index for gas at 2,224.

Councillors

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance is given to councillors who are also council taxpayers to declare an interest when setting the budget.

Brandon Lewis: I have been clear that any payment of, or liability to pay, council tax does not create a disclosable pecuniary interest as defined in the national rules. My Department has updated its plain English guide “Openness and transparency on personal interests: a guide for councillors” to cover this issue.
	I have placed a copy of the guide in the Library of the House and it is available for on my Department's website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/153759/Openness_and_transparency_on_personal_interest_-_a_guide_for_councillors.pdf

Broadband

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment she has made of the economic impact of the new 4G mobile telephone networks.

Edward Vaizey: I have not made an assessment of the economic impact of the deployment of 4G mobile services in the UK. Ofcom, however, has estimated that the economic benefits will be £20 billion over 10 years. This figure is based on the report that Analysys Mason produced for my Department and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), which included a figure for consumer surplus for mobile telecoms:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impact-of-radio-spectrum-on-the-uk-economy-and-factors-influencing-future-spectrum-demand

Public Sector: Procurement

Nick Brown: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what checks he makes on the performance of individual Departments in awarding public sector contracts to small and medium-sized enterprises.

Chloe Smith: SMEs are the lifeblood of our economy and that's why we are determined to support them in winning a larger slice of government contracts than in the past.
	Since the general election, central Government Departments have developed action plans to increase spend with SMEs, and report spend on a monthly basis to the Efficiency and Reform Group in the Cabinet Office. Such performance was never even measured by the last Government.
	The most recent published data shows that direct spend with SMEs across Government has steadily increased since 2010: This can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/departmental-sme-spend-for-2011-12-reveals-steady-increase

Children: Disability

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much each local authority has spent on short breaks for disabled children in each financial year since 2010-11.

Edward Timpson: Data on how much each local authority spends on short breaks for disabled children is collected through the section 251 return. Data from the section 251 returns for 2010-2011 and 2011-12 are set out in the following table. Data for 2012-13 will be available at the beginning of 2014.
	
		
			  2010-11 2011-12 
			 England 212,622,518 221,821,825 
			    
			 City of London 0 0 
			 Camden 1,185,171 2,672,686 
			 Greenwich 976,985 1,129,743 
			 Hackney 1,043,584 984,790 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 0 742,773 
			 Islington 1,549,902 1,093,436 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 789,987 1,444,987 
			 Lambeth 1,312,930 689,957 
			 Lewisham 157,384 439,978 
			 Southwark 428,112 0 
			 Tower Hamlets 2,584,061 2,105,684 
			 Wandsworth 1,931,824 1,563,037 
			 Westminster 455,399 310,613 
			 Barking and Dagenham 1,505,492 1,342,826 
			 Barnet 1,437,643 1,053,332 
			 Wakefield 4,433,209 2,889,280 
			 Gateshead 207,178 653,634 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 2,632,901 2,730,275 
			 North Tyneside 2,089,243 2,218,232 
			 South Tyneside 0 0 
			 Sunderland 305,697 955,138 
			 Isles of Scilly 9,984 17,160 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 935,961 647,047 
			 Bristol, City of 0 840,576 
			 North Somerset 845,000 958,182 
			 South Gloucestershire 1,790,000 1,272,860 
			 Hartlepool 610,151 1,181,170 
			 Middlesbrough 547,223 509,254 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 1,101,427 939,540 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 715,993 798,120 
			 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 148,675 1,370,228 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 1,026,763 762,796 
			 North East Lincolnshire 1,802,173 1,729,748 
			 North Lincolnshire 1,004,032 1,034,989 
			 North Yorkshire . 2,628,282 1,985,074 
			 York 87,354 1,487,414 
			 Luton 1,068,394 2,115,234 
			 Bedford 2,202,973 1,525,751 
			 Central Bedfordshire 2,069,563 1,536,370 
			 Buckinghamshire 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Milton Keynes 545,135 673,425 
			 Derbyshire 3,330,432 232,852 
			 Derby 111,423 555,860 
			 Dorset 0 0 
			 Poole 926,461 115,607 
			 Bournemouth 385,437 379,732 
			 Durham 3,079,175 2,763,939 
			 Darlington 353,548 455,579 
			 East Sussex 2,623,526 2,687,433 
			 Brighton and Hove 0 693,398 
			 Hampshire 0 2,866,988 
			 Portsmouth 378,633 388,019 
			 Southampton 634,233 611,687 
			 Leicestershire 1,247,045 2,273,904 
			 Leicester 922,982 66,360 
			 Rutland 98,796 241,510 
			 Staffordshire 1,332,968 1,270,870 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 1,791,640 1,777,665 
			 Wiltshire 100,625 981,725 
			 Swindon 0 802,437 
			 Bracknell Forest 874,137 627,799 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 1,034,349 856,666 
			 West Berkshire 1,011,071 1,167,194 
			 Reading 338,558 140,562 
			 Slough 29,522 475,237 
			 Wokingham 710,290 1,140,987 
			 Cambridgeshire 2,955,482 1,131,728 
			 Peterborough 0 0 
			 Halton 0 440,540 
			 Warrington 1,281,038 2,544 
			 Devon 4,296,518 4,151,334 
			 Plymouth 631,069 1,739,962 
			 Torbay 296,160 368,682 
			 Essex 3,654,700 3,573,117 
			 Southend-on-Sea 801,475 472,119 
			 Thurrock 821,328 785,486 
			 Herefordshire 931,379 576,159 
			 Worcestershire 3,062,066 2,436,297 
			 Kent 7,418,927 6,818,894 
			 Medway 1,440,668 1,264,450 
			 Lancashire 9,470,544 9,838,558 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 981,049 434,606 
			 Blackpool 609,674 364,570 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,994,752 6,452,155 
			 Nottingham 2,085,354 1,943,336 
			 Shropshire 1,710,298 2,240,991 
			 Telford and Wrekin 1,257,646 1,103,832 
			 Cheshire East 1,222,140 93,608 
			 Cheshire West and Chester 1,623,696 2,057,503 
			 Cornwall 1,594,192 5,109,973 
			 Cumbria 2,411,705 2,643,349 
			 Gloucestershire 3,645,842 2,965,597 
			 Hertfordshire 1,374,093 4,437,671 
			 Isle of Wight 1,178,074 1,045,534 
			 Lincolnshire 2,520,764 1,604,543 
			 Norfolk 36,560 752 
			 Northamptonshire 516,979 1,811,013 
			 Northumberland 222,483 1,973,316 
			 Oxfordshire 2,988,827 2,074,785 
			 Somerset 1,506,299 471,746 
			 Suffolk 120,075 51,766 
			 Surrey 6,496,545 8,063,783 
			 Warwickshire 1,045,165 3,259,999 
		
	
	
		
			 West Sussex 4,911,687 2,848,712 
			 Notes: 1. Information is as provided by local authorities in the s251 outturn collection. 2. Short breaks (respite) for disabled children includes all provision for short-breaks (respite) services for disabled children in need but not looked after. This includes the costs of short breaks utilising a residential setting—including overnight stays; day care and sessional visits to the setting; family based overnight and day care short break services—including those provided through contract and family link carers; sitting or sessional short break services in the child's home; or supporting the child to access activities in the community. The field excludes short breaks for looked after disabled children; any break exceeding 28 days continuous care; costs associated with providing disabled children's access to universal day services such as formal childcare, youth clubs; or extended school activities.

Apprentices

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what proportion of students entering apprenticeships were already in employment in each year since 2010.

Matthew Hancock: According to the 2011 Apprenticeship Pay Survey, 70% of apprentices in England were already working for their employer prior to the start of their apprenticeship. This report can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32286/12-p137-apprenticeship-pay-survey-2011.pdf
	There is no equivalent information for 2010; the 2012 Apprenticeship Pay Survey will be published later this year.